• About the College
• News & Events
• GP Training
• Practising as a GP
  • Revalidation
  • Appraisal
  • Continuing Professional Development
    • CPD Credits System
    • Higher Professional Development
  • Essential General Practice
  • Distance Learning
  • iMAP
  • Substance Misuse
  • Professional Development Board
  • International
  • Leadership programme
  • Team Quality
• Services
• Publications
• Clinical and Research
• Get Involved
• Patient Information
• Contact Us

Continuing Professional Development

 'A continuing learning process that complements formal undergraduate and postgraduate education and training. CPD requires doctors to maintain and improve their standards across all areas of their practice. CPD should also encourage and support specific changes in practice and career development. It has a role to play in helping doctors to keep up to date when they are not practising'

The current  appraisal system and the forthcoming introduction of revalidation procedures have placed the spotlight on CPD. An active, reflective  CPD record  is the best way doctors can demonstrate they are up to date in the context  of their clinical practice.  The principal aims of the RCGP’s CPD scheme are to ensure that every GP continues to update and apply their clinical knowledge and skills, to promote patient confidence that a GP’s knowledge is up to date and, ultimately to help to improve patient safety.  CPD is, therefore, integral to the GP appraisal process and the future recertification system for GPs.

RCGP CPD Strategy

The Royal College of General Practitioners is developing a national managed scheme for CPD for all GPs through its Professional Development Board (PDB), with patient need being central to the agenda.  The scheme will adhere to the 10 principles of good practice in CPD developed  by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC).  The main principles of the RCGP CPD strategy are outlined in the PDB Chair, Professor Nigel Sparrow’s paper ‘Good CPD for GPs’ which was endorsed by the RCGP Council on 16 June 2007.

We are working closely with organisations such as COGPED, NAPCE, UKCEA and Postgraduate Deaneries and will be consulting with faculties and other local interests, individual GPs and CPD providers as the scheme develops.

CPD Credits System

The RCGP managed CPD scheme will be applicable to all four countries of the UK, and appropriate for all practising GPs - whatever their stage of career, RCGP membership status, work setting, employment status, learning style, special interests - and be generalisable to GMC registered doctors working outside the UK. The scheme will be available to RCGP members throughout the UK and overseas as part of their membership package and to non-members for a reasonable fee.

RCGP Council on 14th June 2008 endorsed an outline of the scheme – in a paper entitled  'RCGP Credit Based System for Continuing Professional Development (CPD),'. This proposes a structure for the Credit Based System, explains how the scheme would work and describes the role of the appraisers within  it.

CPD in Appraisal

The CPD scheme will enable all GPs to demonstrate at appraisal that they remain competent across the broad range of knowledge and skills relating to a GP’s role and will help practicing GPs fulfill the standards and requirements of the forthcoming revalidation process for all GPs.

GPs are required to present a portfolio of CPD activities at their appraisal. Criteria and standards have been developed to allow a GP appraiser to judge the quality of a GP’s forthcoming Personal Development Plan. Since reviews of CPD occur within a managed and quality assured appraisal system, this in turn quality assures the RCGP credit system.

CPD Initiatives

A range of initiatives are being developed by the Professional Development Board to support CPD for GPs.

The RCGP Essential General Practice Updates will be a key element of the RCGP's provision of a managed CPD scheme and will contribute to the revalidation folder. These are six monthly learning modules which include new and changing knowledge relevant to general practice. 

The RCGP will develop an e-portfolio for established GPs to be able to record their CPD.  The CPD  portfolio will link to an individual doctor’s nMRCGP e-portfolio so that each doctor will have a continuous record of learning and development across a GP’s career.

Other initiatives include: 

•  iMAP 

• a range of Distance Learning initiatives

•  the Leadership Programme 

• Substance Misuse training and certification

•  Team Quality - developing quality in teams  though QPA, QTD

•  Professional Development Courses  -  such as Certificate of Assessment

•  PwSI Frameworks